A Toronto woman says she is devastated after learning a storage tank malfunction at a local fertility company destroyed her frozen eggs.In what her lawyers are hoping will become a class action, Qi Zhang, 39, is suing ReproMed, the Etobicoke-based Toronto Institute for Reproductive Medicine, seeking more than $25 million in special and aggravated damages. The lawsuit, detailed in a statement of claim filed on July 5 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, alleges the company was negligent in inspecting, monitoring and maintaining embryos, sperm and eggs in its storage freezer. In late May, the freezer experienced a vacuum pump failure and the temperature in it went up, which ended up destroying its stored content, according to the statement of claim.In addition to ReproMed and its director, Dr. Alfonso P. Del Valle, the lawsuit also names U.S.-based cryogenic tank manufacturer Chart Industries and its distributor Praxair Canada Inc. Anne Spafford, a lawyer at Lerners LLP, who represents ReproMed and Del Valle, said they are aware of the lawsuit but will not be commenting on it as the matter is before the court.Jillian Evanko from Chart Industries also said the company does not comment on pending litigations.Praxair Canada Inc. did not respond to requests from the Star for comment.Zhang, who spoke in Mandarin through a translator, said she decided to store 65 of her eggs with ReproMed earlier this year, costing her more than $10,000. She said as a mid-aged “single mother with no partner,” it was her way to ensure she has some security and hope for expanding her family in the future.According to the statement of claim, her doctor emailed her in early June with the news the freezer had failed. “I sat in my car and I was crying for a long period of time,” she told the Star. “I was so terrified. The security for my future is now gone.”She said it was especially difficult to tell her 7-year-old daughter that she may never have sib ...
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